Mr. Jeffrey Moskowitz is a certified attorney in Israel with over 30 years of experience primarily in the areas of corporate and commercial law. Mr. Moskowitz served as an attorney and in-house legal counsel at Koor Industries, a major Israeli industrial concern. For over ten years, Mr. Moskowitz has been providing Zion Oil & Gas legal advice regarding various aspects of operations in Israel. Mr. Moskowitz has developed an expertise in all aspects relating to the Israel oil and gas industry, including helping to guide exploration companies such as Zion through the complexities of governmental permitting and regulatory issues. Mr. Moskowitz has extensive experience working with the Israel Securities Authority and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that will serve as a very valuable asset in assisting with corporate strategy and implementation. Since 2008, Mr. Moskowitz has also assisted Martin M. van Brauman, Zion's Corporate Secretary/Treasurer/SVP, in establishing and maintaining the Bnei Joseph Foundation, an Israeli charity.
Mr. Moskowitz graduated from Bar Ilan University with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. Mr. Moskowitz served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as a combat medic.
Zion Oil & Gas explores for oil and gas onshore in Israel and its operations are focused on the Megiddo-Jezreel License (approximately 99,000 acres) south and west of the Sea of Galilee, where it plans to start drilling a deep well imminently.
For more information on Zion Oil & Gas, go to www.zionoil.com/
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zion-oil--gas-hires-new-vp-and-israeli-branch-manager-300461430.html

Physicists in Israel and the US have proposed a new type of travelling wave pattern -- one that can adapt to the size of physical system in which it is embedded - reporting the work in the New Journal of Physics.
According to the theory, all of the key characteristics of the oscillation (the number of maxima, minima and nodes) remain the same, over a very wide range of host sizes, which turns out to be an exciting result.
The scientists, David Kessler from Bar Ilan University and Herbert Levine from Rice University, share an interest in the dynamics of non-equilibrium systems - a topic that can often shed light on intricate processes such as those found in nature.
"This work started as an attempt to generate an interesting example of wave patterns for a book we are writing on the overall field of pattern formation," said Herbert Levine of Rice University's Center for Theoretical Biological Physics. "Wave patterns are one of the general classes of non-equilibrium structures that can form when systems are driven far from equilibrium."
Familiar examples include travelling wave patterns that describe the convection of fluid mixtures in response to temperature gradients. However, the researchers were drawn to the oscillatory behaviour displayed by the MIN system - a group of proteins involved in the cell division of bacteria such as E.Coli.
"The MIN system is used to demarcate the center of a cell so that it divides into two symmetric daughters," said Levine. "Having a mechanism that allows the wave pattern to 'stretch' without changing all that much is a logical way to deal with this cell growth."
By modelling the behaviour, the researchers found that - unlike other examples of pattern forming processes - the process at work here does not appear to be governed by a precise length scale.
"Because of this, the waves seem to be more adaptable to the size of the region in which they live," Levine said. "This is an interesting finding from a pure physics perspective, but it may also have some implications from a biological point of view."
The result could pave the way for new insights into how proteins are able to self-organize and accurately 'map' the surface of a cell as it grows. And, in principle, this knowledge may one day help in drug development by alerting scientists to ways of interfering with the spread of harmful bacteria.

According to the theory, all of the key characteristics of the oscillation (the number of maxima, minima and nodes) remain the same, over a very wide range of host sizes, which turns out to be an exciting result.
The scientists, David Kessler from Bar Ilan University and Herbert Levine from Rice University, share an interest in the dynamics of non-equilibrium systems - a topic that can often shed light on intricate processes such as those found in nature.
"This work started as an attempt to generate an interesting example of wave patterns for a book we are writing on the overall field of pattern formation," said Herbert Levine of Rice University's Center for Theoretical Biological Physics. "Wave patterns are one of the general classes of non-equilibrium structures that can form when systems are driven far from equilibrium."
Familiar examples include travelling wave patterns that describe the convection of fluid mixtures in response to temperature gradients. However, the researchers were drawn to the oscillatory behaviour displayed by the MIN system - a group of proteins involved in the cell division of bacteria such as E.Coli.
"The MIN system is used to demarcate the center of a cell so that it divides into two symmetric daughters," said Levine. "Having a mechanism that allows the wave pattern to 'stretch' without changing all that much is a logical way to deal with this cell growth."
By modelling the behaviour, the researchers found that - unlike other examples of pattern forming processes - the process at work here does not appear to be governed by a precise length scale.
"Because of this, the waves seem to be more adaptable to the size of the region in which they live," Levine said. "This is an interesting finding from a pure physics perspective, but it may also have some implications from a biological point of view."
The result could pave the way for new insights into how proteins are able to self-organize and accurately 'map' the surface of a cell as it grows. And, in principle, this knowledge may one day help in drug development by alerting scientists to ways of interfering with the spread of harmful bacteria.
Explore further: Scientists spot genes that make some sarcomas less aggressive
More information: David A Kessler et al, Nonlinear self-adapting wave patterns, New Journal of Physics (2016). DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/18/12/122001

A collection of 780,000-year-old edible plants found in Israel is the largest and most diverse in the Levantine corridor linking Africa and Eurasia
A tiny grape pip (scale 1mm), left on the ground some 780,000 years ago, is one of more than 9,000 remains of edible plants discovered in an old Stone Age site in Israel on the shoreline of Lake Hula in the northern Jordan valley, dating back to the Acheulian culture from 1.75-0.25 million years ago. The floral collection provides rich testimony of the plant-based diet of our prehistoric ancestors.
While around the world remains of Paleolithic plants are scarce, this unique macro-botanical assemblage has allowed researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar Ilan University to study the vegetal diet of humans from early-mid-Pleistocene, which is central to understanding the evolution, adaptation and exploitation of the environment by hominins.
The findings were recovered during archeological excavations at the waterlogged site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, where the earliest evidence of human-controlled fire in western Asia was discovered in recent years.
Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar of the Institute of Archeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who conducted the excavations with colleagues, have long studied findings of hominid occupations in the Levantine Corridor, through which several hominin waves dispersed out of Africa.
In a research paper that will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on December 5, titled "The plant component of an Acheulian diet: a case study from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel", Prof. Goren-Inbar reveals the discovery of the ancient macrobotanical remains, which for the first time indicate to the rich variety of plant assortments and subsistence opportunities that were available to the early humans on the transition from an African-based to a Eurasian diet.
"In recent years we were met with a golden opportunity to reveal numerous remains of fruits, nuts and seeds from trees, shrubs and the lake, alongside the remains of animals and man-made stone tools in one locality," Prof. Goren-Inbar said.
Of the remains found on site, Prof. Goren-Inbar and Dr. Yoel Melamed of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar Ilan University have identified 55 species of edible plants, including seeds, fruits, nuts, leaves, stems, roots and tubers.
The findings, many of them minor in size, have been preserved for hundreds of thousands of years thanks to the damp conditions in the vicinity of the site, said Dr. Melamed. The basalts under and in the site were dated by Ar/Ar and the dates were further confirmed by results of paleomagnetic analyses.
"This region is known for the wealth of plants, but what surprised us were the sources of plant food coming from the lake. We found more than 10 species that existed here in prehistoric times but no longer today, such as two types of water nuts, from which seven were edible," explained Dr. Melamed.
The site was submerged under the Jordan River and the Hula Lake in conditions of humidity and lack of oxygen, aided by the fast covering of layers of sediments, in which archaeologists also found stone tools and animal fossils.
Gesher Benot Ya'aqov is also the place where Prof. Goren-Inbar found the earliest evidence of the use of fire in Eurasia (LINK). "The use of fire is very important because a lot of the plants are toxic or inedible. Using fire, like roasting nuts and roots for example, allows the use of various parts of the plant and increases the diversity of the plant component of the Acheulian diet, alongside aquatic and terrestrial fauna," said Prof. Goren-Inbar.
The use of fire and the availability of a diverse range of flora highlight the ability of prehistoric man to adjust to a new environment, to exploit the environment for his own benefit and to colonize beyond Africa.

Older adults are less inclined to take risks, but this behavior may be linked to changes in brain anatomy rather than age, according to a new study resulting from a collaboration between Yale and NYU. The finding adds to scientific understanding of decision making and may lead to strategies for modifying changes in risk behavior as people age.
The study was published on Dec. 13 by Nature Communications.
Research has demonstrated that older adults are less inclined to take certain types of risks, such as participating in a lottery. In a prior study, associate professor of comparative medicine and neuroscience Ifat Levy and colleagues documented a link between tolerance for taking risks and gray matter volume in an area in the back of the brain known as the posterior parietal cortex; the more gray matter young adults had, the more likely they were to take risks.
In the new study, Levy and her co-authors, including first author Michael Grubb, a former NYU postdoc and currently at Trinity College, examined the phenomenon in older adults, who experience a natural decline in gray matter volume with age. The research team studied whether changes in gray matter volume in the posterior parietal cortex, or aging itself, accounted for older adults’ tendency to avoid risk.
For the study, the research team presented a series of choices to 52 study participants, aged 18 to 88 years. Participants could either receive $5 or take their chances with a lottery of varying amounts and probabilities. For example, a participant could choose the certain gain of $5 or opt for a 25 percent chance of getting $20. Participants were each assigned a number denoting their level of risk tolerance based on their choices.
The researchers also measured the gray matter volume in the posterior parietal cortex of each subject, drawn from MRI scans.
After analyzing the risk choices and MRI measurements, the researchers confirmed that age-related decline in risk tolerance correlates more with changes in brain anatomy than with age.
“We found that if we use both the gray matter volume and age together as predictors of risk attitudes, the gray matter volume is significant, while age is not,” said Levy. “This means that gray matter volume accounts for age-related changes in risk attitude more than age itself.”
The finding provides new insight into neurological factors that affect risk preferences and decision making among older adults. It may also lead to strategies for modifying decision making.
“We could use this understanding in order to try to, behaviorally or pharmacologically, change flawed decision making,” said Levy. “By understanding the basic processes at the core of complex behavioral changes, we facilitate ways to intervene and improve decision making.”
Other study authors include Agnieszka Tymula (University of Sydney), Sharon Gilaie-Dotan (Bar Ilan University), and Paul W. Glimcher (NYU).
The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (National Institutes of Health).

New Tel Aviv University research suggests that periods of fasting or starvation may significantly shorten the lifespans of both children and their male descendants.
The study focused on survivors of a mass famine that took place in the early 1920s in several rural regions of Russia. It was led by Prof. Eugene Kobyliansky of TAU's Sackler School of Medicine and conducted by doctoral student Dmitry Torchinsky of TAU's Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, in collaboration with Dr. Leonid Kalichman of Ben-Gurion University's Department of Physical Therapy and Prof. David Karasik of Bar Ilan University's Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee. Its conclusions were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"A variety of experimental and epidemiological studies have tried to propose that intermittent or periodic fasting, like caloric restriction, may slow the aging process and extend lifespans," said Prof. Kobyliansky. "But there is also evidence demonstrating that even moderate caloric restriction may not extend but, on the contrary, can shorten the human lifespan."
Past research suggests a strong correlation between telomere dynamics and the processes that determine human aging and lifespan. Telomeres, compound structures at the end of each chromosome that protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration, are the genetic key to longevity. They shorten with every chromosome replication cycle.
The team evaluated telomere lengths in a population-based sample comprised of survivors of the mass famine of the early 1920s and in the survivors' descendants, who originated from Chuvashia, a rural area in the mid-Volga region of Russia. In Chuvashia, the proportion of starving inhabitants reached 90% in late March 1922, and mortality among starving peasants reached between 30-50%. The situation only began to improve in April 1923. By the end of that year, the mass famine in Chuvashia was considered over.
The researchers arrived at three major discoveries: (1) There were shorter leukocyte telomeres in men born after 1923 after the mass famine ended than in men born before 1922; (2) there was a stable inheritance of shorter telomeres by men born in ensuing generations; and (3) there was an absence of any correlation between shorter telomeres and women born before or after the event.
"This study, while demonstrating that starvation has the potential to shorten telomere length, raises several questions," said Prof. Kobyliansky. "Does starvation exert a stronger effect on telomere length in the reproductive cells of adults than in the leukocytes of children? Is starvation-induced telomere shortening a sex-dependent phenomenon? And would fasting regimens exerting beneficial effects be accompanied by telomere shortening in descendants?"
The team is currently considering experimental in vivo studies to answer these and other questions.
Tel Aviv University (TAU) is inherently linked to the cultural, scientific and entrepreneurial mecca it represents. It is one of the world's most dynamic research centers and Israel's most distinguished learning environment. Its unique-in-Israel multidisciplinary environment is highly coveted by young researchers and scholars returning to Israel from post-docs and junior faculty positions in the US.
American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) enthusiastically and industriously pursues the advancement of TAU in the US, raising money, awareness and influence through international alliances that are vital to the future of this already impressive institution.

Geosynthetic reinforced soil retaining structures (GRSRS) have the benefits of low construction cost, hard to decay, and construction convenience. However, GRSRS are composed of backfill materials and reinforcements, which are relatively complex in considering of the soil-structure interaction. The complicated soil-reinforcement interaction and its effects on the behavior of GRSRS need to be investigated comprehensively. This paper follows the processes of cases description and numerical analysis to study the performance of the four major GRSRS built in Ilan County, Taiwan. The purpose of this paper is to validate a relatively reliable and economical technique to be adopted greatly at present in civil engineering practice.